Nathan Fillion Rules Himself Out For Guardians Of The Galaxy

Between Joss Whedon being the godfather of the Marvel Studio's Phase 2 and the director of The Avengers 2 and James Gunn being set to helm Guardians of the Galaxy, there are plenty of links between Nathan Fillion and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fillion, of course, was the star of Whedon's Firefly television series (as well as Serenity), but also was in a few episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and has a part in the upcoming Much Ado About Nothing, and he played the lead role in Gunn's Slither and had a supporting role in Super as the Christian caped crusader The Holy Avenger. There has long been support for the actor to play a big screen comic book superhero - Ant-Man has been suggested more than a few times - but with Gunn now in place for Guardians does that mean it's an actual possibility?

According to Fillion, the answer is sadly no. MTV caught up with him at the Toronto International Film Festival and when they asked him if it was possible that he would play the lead role in Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord, Fillion's answer was not the one we were hoping for, saying that he is simply too busy working on his television show Castle to commit to something that big. "When my friends have a fantastic news like that I don't the opportunity to say, 'So what about me?'" he said laughing. "I'm very busy right now with a job that I'm grateful for I can't really shake a stick at it. I've made a commitment and I've got see it through, and I'm really happy to."

And while he may not be talking to his friend Gunn about a part in Guardians of the Galaxy, it doesn't mean that they aren't talking about the project with each other. According to Fillion, the two of them recently sat down at a dinner and talked about the film. "I was on the inside on that one. Over some toro, tuna belly, we discussed how excited he is, how nervous he is, but how he wanted it very badly. He wanted it very badly. I think it's in very capable hands. It's in the right hands. Having worked with the man, I know what he's capable of."

Guardians of the Galaxy will be in theaters on August 1, 2014 and Gunn is currently working on the script. To find out more about the movie and see the first concept art and title treatment, head over to our Blend Film Database.